The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) appealed to the European Union on Tuesday not to impose limits for carbon dioxide emissions on carmakers struggling to meet voluntary CO2 reduction goals. "It should not be, it cannot be the responsibility of the (automotive) industry alone," ACEA Secretary General Ivan Hodac told an industry conference, saying politicians had failed to do their part by shifting taxation to foster clean cars.

But Georgette Lalis, director of the European Commission's consumer goods directorate, said politicians would find it hard to simply disregard the target of reducing new cars' average CO2 emissions to 140 g/km driven by 2008 as agreed with carmakers. "A decision has not been taken by the Commision yet. It is most likely to happen in the beginning of January," she said during a panel discussion at the Handelsblatt conference. But "140 is the number" anchored in the public debate, she added.

Hodac said carmakers had made great strides to reduce CO2 emissions but faced resistance from consumers who did not want to pay more for fuel efficient cars and who did not have financial incentives to do so. Officials said the longer-term solution was to cap CO2 output by encouraging the use of biofuels. Adding 10 percent biofuel to standard fuels could let the industry meet the goal of cutting CO2 emisions to 120 g/km by 2012, they said.

"The quicker we spend money on (biofuels), the better we will all be off," said Lars Holmqvist, head of the European Association of Automotive Suppliers, adding that cutting "the last 20 grammes (of emissions) will be extremely expensive".

Brussels has been warning since August that European and Asian automakers must do more to meet voluntary targets to reduce CO2 emissions or face possible legislative action. Average CO2 emissions from new cars in the 15 "old" EU member states in 2004 were down 12.4 percent from 1995 levels, far off the target of a roughly 25 percent cut by 2008/09.

European carmakers have agreed to reduce C02 emissions from new cars to an average of 140 g/km by 2008, while Japanese and Korean manufacturers have agreed to meet that goal by 2009. The target represents a cut of around 25 percent from 1995 levels.
(Planet Ark, 13/12/2006)
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